Joe turned 30 on Oct. 2, and I wanted to make the day extra special for the huz/babydady old man.

I made Joe’s favorite pineapple upside down carrot cake and had to laugh at how pathetic the candle situation looked after he blew them out and we started dishing up.

In mid-September, I was feeling a little bit stressed and overwhelmed and knew I couldn’t pull off a big party with all our friends, so I came up with a concept that would be fun and different and manageable: a little bicycle scavenger hunt/bar crawl for Joe and a few buddies that would culminate in his present reveal.

I decided to invest in a nice Weber grill as Joe’s birthday gift (thank you, freelance checks!) since the grill we’ve been using was purchased second hand 4+ years ago and is on its last, wobbly legs. Home Depot assembled it for free and I managed to fit it into the Subaru and hide it in our neighbors’ garage for a few days. To throw him off the trail, I told Joe not to look in our garage fridge because his present was in there. (Psych! Totally worked.)

The morning of his birthday, I let him in on the plan.

Earlier in the afternoon, I’d left rhyming clues at two neighborhood bars (The Alpine Tap Room and The Library). The idea was that the guys would cycle out in search of the clues and enjoy a few beers while the wives/ladyfriends chopped veggies and meat for kabobs. Then they’d come back to grill out. The answer to the two riddles were “meat” and “heat” — get it? Because his present was a grill?

I included a few packages of beef jerky and money for the pinball machine at the Alpine and a clicker lighter thing at The Library. Joe loved it, and said that the people at both bars were really excited to see the group, because everyone wanted to see them get their clues. I’m super glad I kept it to just two bars, because the men didn’t seem to get my subtle rhyming hints to only have one drink at each stop. There may have been a few hangry – OK time to come back for dinner! texts exchanged.

Speaking of two-wheeled fun, the weekend before Joe’s b-day, we went on our first family bike ride with Emmett. He’s in his carseat inside the trailer. With a monkey.

Mostly unrelated, but our friend Danny just released his first music video with the project MAIDS…

And it’s awesome. The actors in it totally portray what it’s like to be in love in your 20s in Des Moines. Or, at least a lot of the shots in this reminded me of those butterfly-in-your-stomach days with Joe. We still love to do a lot of this stuff, but as is evident by the new bike trailer/baby situation, we’re headed into a new phase of being in love in this city.

Check out the video! It’s an M. Ward cover and Danny and Mickey are crazy talented.